Middle East

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Clinton to Middle East: Get Your Act Together

Clinton delivers harsh critique of Arab leaders

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton delivered a blunt, scorching speech at a conference of Arab leaders in Qatar today, warning countries that if they didn’t reform their economic and political systems, they left themselves open to terrorism. “The region’s foundations are sinking into the sand,” Clinton declared. Her complaints—...

Netanyahu to Abbas: Let's Do Nonstop Talks

Israeli PM apparently trying to jumpstart peace talks

(Newser) - Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to head back to the negotiating table with Mahmoud Abbas—and stay there until a deal is struck, reports the AP. Seeking to jumpstart Mideast peace talks that stalled in September, Netanyahu said today that he's "ready to immediately sit down for continuous,...

Pope to Middle East Christians: Stay Strong
Pope to Middle East Christians:
Stay Strong
new year's address

Pope to Middle East Christians: Stay Strong

Hours after Egypt church blast, pope urges followers 'not to yield'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians to remain strong in the face of intolerance and violence in a New Year's appeal today that came hours after a bomb blast outside an Egyptian church killed 21 people as worshippers left Mass. The pope condemned a widening campaign against Christians in the Middle...

Obama to UN: Time for Mideast Peace Is Now

Ignore the cynics, Obama urges

(Newser) - Barack Obama gave his second speech to the UN General Assembly today, and spent most of his time calling for support for the US’ latest stab at peace in the Middle East. “Peace must be made by Israelis and Palestinians, but each of us has a responsibility to do...

Gazans Blame Hamas for Economic Woes

Party shares blame with Israel for sky-high unemployment

(Newser) - As joblessness mounts in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, more and more residents are blaming the ruling Hamas party for their woes, GlobalPost reports. Although Gaza has one of the fastest population growth rates on earth, 45% of people have no job and 85% depend on aid to get by. And...

Biggest Danger to Mideast Peace: The 'Peace Process'
Biggest Danger to Mideast Peace: The 'Peace Process'
GEORGE WILL

Biggest Danger to Mideast Peace: The 'Peace Process'

It's a fiction, and the US buys into it at Israel's expense

(Newser) - The procession of small agreements and negotiations give the impression of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but really, the whole idea of the "peace process" is a fiction, writes George Will in the Washington Post . And this fiction of an ongoing process—rather than the intensification of Jihadist-laced...

Israelis, Palestinians to Resume Peace Talks: Clinton

A victory for Obama, Clinton—but peace a long way off

(Newser) - It's official: After a 20-month hiatus, Israeli and Palestinian leaders will resume direct peace talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that talks will begin Sept. 2 in Washington, with the goal of reaching a settlement within one year, the AP reports . "There have been difficulties in the...

Israel to lift blockade of Gaza except for Weapons
 Israel Eases 
 Gaza Blockade 

Israel Eases Gaza Blockade

Ban on weapons remains in force

(Newser) - Israel will allow goods to enter Gaza by land but will continue to ban the importation of weapons and will maintain its naval blockade on the area, CNN reports . Rather than listing what's allowed in , Israel will permit everything other than " weapons and material that Hamas uses to prepare...

Israel Rejects Arab Proposal for Nuke-Free Mideast

It's 'hypocritical' to single out Jerusalem and ignore Tehran

(Newser) - Israel has condemned a plan approved by the 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to move toward banning nuclear arms from the Middle East, calling it "deeply flawed and hypocritical." The NPT member states (Israel is not one of them) agreed yesterday to have a conference...

US Expands Secret Mideast Operations

Petraeus authorizes special ops in friendly, unfriendly Mideast nations

(Newser) - The head of US Central Command has green-lighted a huge expansion in American secret operations in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia, according to documents obtained by the New York Times . Gen. David Petraeus has authorized the sending of special forces to both friendly and hostile...

FT.com / Columnists / Gideon Rachman - Israel’s fear and loathing of Obama
 Obama Wants Israel 
 to Take its Medicine 
OPINION

Obama Wants Israel to Take its Medicine

And Israel hates him for it

(Newser) - The president isn't a popular man in Jerusalem these days, thanks to his call for a freeze on Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank, and rumors that he's hatching his own Mideast peace plan. “Barack Obama is a disaster for Israel,” one liberal commentator there tells Gideon...

Syria Accused of Supplying Hezbollah With Scuds

GOP seeks to block appointment of US ambassador to Damascus

(Newser) - Syria has been supplying Hezbollah militants in Lebanon with long-range Scud missiles capable of hitting Israeli cities and nuclear installations, US and Israeli officials say. The accusations threaten to upend the Obama administration's efforts to reach out to Syria, and if true, stand to upset the military balance of power...

Modern Dogs Hail From Middle East
Modern Dogs Hail
From Middle East

Modern Dogs Hail From Middle East

DNA shows most breeds descended from region's gray wolf

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the origin of the domesticated dog—somewhere in the Middle East. Most dogs in the world are descended from the Middle Eastern gray wolf, a team of geneticists found. The researchers analyzed the dog genome, using 900 animals from 85 breeds, and then compared it to 200...

Bill Clinton Likely Headed Home Tomorrow
Bill Clinton Likely Headed Home Tomorrow
UPDATED

Bill Clinton Likely Headed Home Tomorrow

... and Hillary won't leave for Middle East until Saturday

(Newser) - It looks like Bill Clinton will only spend one night in the hospital after undergoing an emergency heart procedure today—and wife Hillary will merely postpone her diplomatic trip to the Middle East by a day. “He’s in good spirits, and we hope to have him go home...

Hey, Obama: In Iraq Exit, Don't Forget Strategy

US withdrawal or not, the country still has 'geostrategic significance'

(Newser) - Iraq is centrally important to the Middle East region, and the Obama administration does the country and the world a disservice by focusing on troop withdrawal without considering the future, writes Henry Kissinger. “The outcome in Iraq will influence the psychological balance in the war against radical Islam, specifically...

Muslims, Hindus Make Beautiful Punk Music Together

'Taqwacore' bands seize their moment in the spotlight

(Newser) - From the basement of a middle-class home west of Boston, the Kominas have helped launch an unlikely trend. A son of Indian immigrants, trained in classical violin and raised on traditional Punjab music, the 25-year-old electric guitarist Arjun Ray is getting his three Pakistani-American bandmates in sync, with the goal...

Tension Builds Between Hillary, Obama
 Tension Builds Between 
 Hillary, Obama 
Joe Klein

Tension Builds Between Hillary, Obama

Clinton a strong secretary, but not yet administration's voice

(Newser) - Ask Hillary Clinton or her staff about President Obama and they’ll praise him and tell you the relationship between the two really is strong. But the tensions between the State Department and White House are starting to show, writes Joe Klein . The president’s foreign policy hasn’t yet...

Mideast Peace Would Justify Obama's Nobel
Mideast Peace Would Justify Obama's Nobel
Joe Klein

Mideast Peace Would Justify Obama's Nobel

There's consensus on a deal; the president is the guy to get it done

(Newser) - With his Nobel Prize, President Obama has once again been celebrated and rewarded for who he’s not (George W. Bush) and who he might be. Although Obama’s preferred foreign policy MO—patient diplomacy on many fronts—doesn’t “lend itself to high drama,” that's exactly what...

Israelis, Palestinians Skeptical of Obama Nobel

Israel fears prize will spur president to 'force-feed' them peace deal

(Newser) - President Obama won praise from Israeli and Palestinian leaders after yesterday's surprise Nobel Peace Prize win, but many others on both sides of the conflict expressed puzzlement and wariness. The decision is "very strange," said the speaker of Israel's parliament, adding that he hoped Obama wouldn't now feel...

A Quarter of World Is Muslim
 A Quarter of World Is Muslim 

A Quarter of World Is Muslim

Asia, not Middle East, is center of the world of Islam

(Newser) - A quarter of the world's population is Muslim, and nearly two-thirds of the religion's adherents live in Asia, according to an extensive new study mapping the world of Islam. Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation, and India, a majority-Hindu country, has the world's third-largest population of Muslims—more than twice...

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